Stormwater utility bylaw passes first reading

Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers. File Photo

Passed in this year’s city budget was the establishment of a stormwater utility to help garner much-needed funds for future infrastructure updates to the stormwater system.

Monday, further moves were made on this matter with the first reading of the stormwater utility bylaw to help sock away funds for timely upgrades which are desperately needed for the system.

“I can tell you, when you see the pictures on Thursday night at the open house you will see why it needs to be repaired. It is pretty straight forward,” Mayor Gerald Aalbers said following Monday’s council meeting.

“The Edmunds Complex has reached its lifetime and there are some other items that need to be done.”

Around 33 per cent of the city’s stormwater pipes are over 38 years old and the Neale Edmunds Complex, which was built over 30 years ago, has never been upgraded.

Currently, there is roughly a $57-million deficit for upgrades needed to the stormwater system.

Administration has proposed establishing an equitable utility fee to be charged to all properties which benefit from the system, to help offset pressure on tax dollars for capital expenses, and follow suit with what many other municipalities across North America have switched to.

The fee, which will be based on lot size, will vary on a sliding scale between $13 and $480 per month, with around 99.4 per cent of residential and 94 per cent of total properties falling under the minimum $13 per month pricing system.

Undeveloped or vacant properties, as they contribute less to the stormwater system, will be charged a factor of 0.25 of the applicable rate.

Residential properties whose lot sizes are over 30,000 square metres, such as a trailer courts, will divide the $480 per month fee across each dwelling.

The utility fee will be tacked on as a separate line item on the water bill and the city is targeting to roll the program out on April 27.

“If we don’t do some upgrading and make this water get through our city in a timely fashion, then we run the risk of flooding property,” Alan Cayford, director of public works said.

“I don’t think there is anybody who wants to do that.”

Cayford made note of some of the major flooding incidents which occurred last summer, and stressed the importance of working to replace the “worn out” structures to help prevent failures.

“We need to try and stop that from happening,” he added.

The mayor echoed these concerns and stressed the need to begin to set funds aside for major repairs for a number of reasons, one being when approaching the federal or provincial governments for funding in the case the cost gets too high, they are going to want to see preventative action and prior responsibility taken.

“We know the cost to infrastructure and roads and things like that being washed out. We want to be proactive rather than reactive,” Aalbers said.

“We could come to the taxpayer and say ‘hey guys we need this much this year’… and then next year we are going to ask again and continue to ask, where this will be able to be budgeted for (by) homes and businesses.”

Though he did anticipate most people were likely not going to be happy with the move, he did stress that if he could “do it any differently, I would, but we haven’t figured out a methodology yet to create money coming out of the ground without it coming through the taxpayer.”

The option of turning to the federal or provincial governments for money was essentially off the table, as Aalbers pointed to the current situation with the wastewater treatment plant as an example of how that process might go.

On this topic, the city invited residents to join members of council and administration at City Hall for a Your Voice event from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March. 2 to review information, engage in discussion and provide feedback on this funding strategy.

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